The Martian in Hype or Like Friday

Feb 22, 2014 Michael rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2014, science-fiction, arc, kindle, tower-team-challenge-b, pbrc-tower-challenge

Andy Weir's The Martian starts off with a memorable (and not quotable in polite company) opening line, establishing that our hero and narrator Mark Watney is a bad situation -- and one that isn't likely to get better any time soon.

Watney is the first man marooned on Mars. Believed dead by his fellow research team, Watney has been marooned on the Red Planet and is outlook is looking fairly bleak. No one will be coming back for a good long while and his radio is dead. But instead of giving up, Wat Andy Weir's The Martian starts off with a memorable (and not quotable in polite company) opening line, establishing that our hero and narrator Mark Watney is a bad situation -- and one that isn't likely to get better any time soon.

Watney is the first man marooned on Mars. Believed dead by his fellow research team, Watney has been marooned on the Red Planet and is outlook is looking fairly bleak. No one will be coming back for a good long while and his radio is dead. But instead of giving up, Watney determines how he can and will survive on Mars, using the supplies left to him and his own ingenuity.

The details of how Watney survives are told via his journal. Watney relates how he overcomes the need to create water and food (it's interesting to watch how he breaks down exactly how many calories he needs per day and then goes about trying to find a way to get to that calorie level, for example) as well as how he keeps from going crazy. Seems that his fellow crew members brought along digital copies of bad 70's TV and Agatha Christie novels that were left behind when they had to abandon the station.

The promotional material for this book describes The Martian as a cross between Castaway and Apollo 13. That isn't far off and should Hollywood ever get around to making a blockbuster adaptation of this book, it's easy to imagine Tom Hanks in the lead role.

Weir's story works well when centering on Watney and his struggle to survive until help can come. Eventually the novel does shift focus to Earth and how various NASA scientists and crew members figure out that Watney is alive and determine if and how he can be helped and/or saved. These sections don't work quite as well as those focusing on Watney on Mars. The characters aren't as well drawn as Watney is and as the novel moved toward its conclusion, I found myself growing less interested in these sections and more curious about events on the Red Planet.

That isn't to say that this isn't a good book. It's a very enjoyable, entertaining first novel from Weir and one that makes me curious to see what he'll offer us next.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Jul 15, 2015 Zezee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-books, sci-fi

It’s a good story and I recommend it. If it wasn’t narrated in the way it was, I probably wouldn’t have completed it because it’s not my sort of story.

Full review on Zezee with Books. ...more

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Jul 02, 2015 Heather (The Sassy Book Geek) rated it liked it

Shelves: owned-physical, read-in-2015

Originally Posted On The Sassy Book Geek

***** I WILL be using an excessive amount of gifs to properly express my emotions on this book. You’ve been warned!*****

Things I Learned From “The Martian”:

I would definitely die on Mars because not only am I pretty lazy but I am also terrible at handling emergency situations and I’m horrible at math.

Duct tape literally fixes everything.

Anyways, I have a lot of mixed feelings on this book. On one hand it got way too boring with all the math and scien ...more

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Jul 06, 2014 Lynn Williams rated it it was amazing

http://lynnsbooks.wordpress.com/2014/...
4.5 of 5
I've just finished reading the Martian. Firstly, wow - what an ending! I was gripped, I could cry right now and I'm exhausted having read the full thing in virtually one day and holding my breath for long bouts when the tension cranked up - I think I'm oxygen starved!

I don't think I'm giving away much when I say the Martian is about an astronaut (Mark Watney) who gets left behind on Mars! In a nutshell, when the crew are making ready to depart an a http://lynnsbooks.wordpress.com/2014/...
4.5 of 5
I've just finished reading the Martian. Firstly, wow - what an ending! I was gripped, I could cry right now and I'm exhausted having read the full thing in virtually one day and holding my breath for long bouts when the tension cranked up - I think I'm oxygen starved!

I don't think I'm giving away much when I say the Martian is about an astronaut (Mark Watney) who gets left behind on Mars! In a nutshell, when the crew are making ready to depart an accident occurs that leaves one of them injured, believed dead and out of sight. The crew, believing there is no hope, and also facing a high storm, reluctantly leave without the body! When Mark wakes up he's on his own, injured and without any real hope of survival or rescue! But, this is a resourceful guy! Planet earth may be blue but there's plenty Mark can do. If this was me, well, apart from the fact I wouldn't be on such a mission in the first place, I would probably curl up in a ball, Mark, however, is a real fighter and so our story begins.

First things first, basics. Food, water oxygen, then communication, then rescue! These are the problems Mark has to solve and let's just say he's a creative thinker! Sci fi fans will love the creativity and ingenious thinking. I won't deny that there's lots of number crunching, equations, ratios - you name it, anything that my brain usually struggles with is thrown in here - and yet it's done in a way that doesn't leave you mind boggled. On top of that Mark's sense of humour in the face of such dire circumstances is positively heart warming. He's a botanist - fear his botany powers! The whole growing crops aboard his little station is so inventive - not to mention his creativity about fertilisation, ahem. Put bluntly, it's one of those books where you alternate between thinking he's going to die to breathing a sigh of relief, to thinking he's going to die, to breathing - yeah, you get it! Then, just in the nick of time, because that could become tedious - we have the inclusion of the people on earth, what's going on at NASA the public frenzy generated by the media trying to discover what exactly is going on when they realise Mark is still alive! I enjoyed those elements and thought they brought something extra to the story. It's difficult after all for one man to completely carry the story.

The story is told by Mark as he records his actions on a log and treats us to his life and death escapades with a little humour thrown in between as he comments on his only form of entertainment - 1970s tv and disco music.

In terms of criticisms... well, the sci fi problems and solutions could prove a bit much for some people. Personally I enjoyed the creativity involved but I admit that the inclusion of 'the earth rescue' section came at just the right time and stopped the book from becoming too set in a pattern. Also, I wouldn't say that the characters are deeply explored - this is more a book about survival and the human will to live at all costs - it's not a deeply emotional or reflective book so if you're looking for that element you may be disappointed. This is more a one man action/survival story with a gripping 'will he/won't he' conclusion.

Personally I was pretty much glued to the page - not like I'd glued my hand there with resin or anything (you need to read the book for that reference) - in fact, towards the end, it feels like everyone on planet earth is watching Mark's progress, gripped with tension and holding their breath and I literally felt like I was one of them!

I received a copy from Netgalley - many thanks to the publisher. The above is my own opinion. ...more

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Oct 14, 2015 The Book Jar Blog rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

Read more of our reviews at: www.thebookjarblog.wordpress.com

I am usually not a science-fiction reader as it doesn't really captivate me like other genres, but I thoroughly enjoyed The Martian. The unique premise and witty protagonists kept me interested, which was my biggest worry when I began the novel as the majority of the book simple features Mark alone on Mars. The small excepts from his crew and everyone back on earth trying to save him, granted a nice perspective.

The one complaint I had ...more

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Oct 12, 2016 Kirsty rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library-copy, reviewed

I did a bad thing and watched the movie before reading the book. I honestly wasn't even interested in reading the book until I watched the film though. The film was pretty true to the book I felt.

I'm sure you know what the Martian is about but if you don't it's about a guy called Mark Watney who gets stranded on Mars after his crew thinks that he died. The next mission to Mars isn't for 5 years and he only has enough rations for 1-2 years.

I was worried after watching the film how they would expl ...more

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May 13, 2017 Maddie A. rated it really liked it

Full review posted on Of Reading and Random Things

I really like to read sci-fi. I also like survival stories. So when I saw The Martian, I immediately added it to my TBR. Now I’ve finally read it and I have to say, I’m glad I did. The Martian is a very enjoyable read! I was fully engrossed in the story and I never wanted to stop reading. Too bad I actually had to do other things.

There is definitely a lot of scientific terms and explanations throughout the book, like when the characters are talki ...more

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